In many conventional reclining vehicle seats, the seat back is pivotally mounted for forward and rearward reclining movement by virtue of a linear recliner assembly which is connected to the seat. The typical linear recliner assembly, as exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,898,424 and 5,718,482, has a housing mounted to the side of the seat and an actuating rod mounted for linear movement within the housing and connected to a lower portion of the seat back. A locking mechanism is mounted within the housing and engages the actuating rod to prevent reclining movement of the seat back.
Under certain conditions, such as a collision, a substantial force may be applied to the seat back so as to result in a longitudinally directed force being applied to the actuating rod and transmitted to the seat through the pivot pin of the locking mechanism. The pivot pin is thus required to be of high strength material, with the attendant increased costs, in order to resist such forces. Thus, there exists a need to provide a recliner assembly which avoids transferring forces through a single pivot pin.